Intuition @ Work: & at Home and at Play

If I correctly understand Wanless' core ideas in this book, intuition is always "@ work." The challenge is to access it, nourish it, and be guided by it...usually in combination with one or more other resources such as emotional intelligence which Daniel Goleman discusses so brilliantly in Emotional Intelligence, Working With Emotional Intelligence, and most recently published Primal Leadership, co-authored with Annie McKee and Richard E. Boyatzis. How to describe Wanless' book? First of all, extensive research (his and others') has convinced him that intuition may well be the single most important, and potentially the most valuable, of all resources available to human beings as they struggle to understand themselves and the world in which they live and work. For most of us, we prefer to rely on our powers of reasoning, our personal experiences, and the judgment of others to make decisions, to assign value, and to select goals to pursue. As a result, we can sometimes deny or ignore what Wanless characterizes as a "life force" within each of us and thereby forfeit "extraordinary, perhaps even revolutionary, ways of comprehending ourselves." I am reminded of the key point Ernest Becker makes in Denial of Death: Although no one can deny physical death, there is another death which we can deny. That is the death which occurs when we become wholly preoccupied with fulfilling others' expectations of us. Wanless asserts (and I agree) that trusting one's intuition can help us to identify and then fulfill what we expect of ourselves.This book also provides a wealth of carefully selected quotations from various sources which are strategically placed within chapters which examine the potential "rewards" of intuition; what Wanless calls "the intuitive imperative"; intuitive decision-making, action, intention, vision, innovation, communication, fitness, and energy; and finally, "The Intuitive Future Life: A New Way of Being." Obviously, the purpose of including the quotations is to reassure the reader that, for many of the most thoughtful and influential persons, intuition is given great value. Among all the hundreds of quotations, my personal favorites include:"There is something within you that knows more than you know." (Rochelle Myers)"If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." (Audre Lorde)"A great many think they are thinking, when they are merely rearranging their prejudices." (William James)"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." (Anais Nin)"I shut my eyes in order to see." (Paul Gauguin)This is a book which increases in value each time it is re-read. Although it has direct and practical relevance to the workplace, it can also help its reader (if receptive) to use the power of intuition to guide, nourish, and enrich her or his personal life. Wanless includes several hundred specific suggestions, drills, insights, and reassurances which -- collectively -- reveal and